Elon Musk reveals new details about taking Tesla private

On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained his controversial tweet last week.Mark Brake / Getty Images

• In a blog post on Tesla’s website posted on Monday, Musk said he used the phrase “funding secured” because he believed there was “no question” Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would provide funding for a deal to convert Tesla into a private company after a July 31 meeting with the fund’s managing director.
• Musk said he is in discussions with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and other investors and plans to fund most of a potential take-private deal with equity rather than debt, since he does not want to increase Tesla’s debt load.
• Musk also said he estimates that around two-thirds of the shares owned by current Tesla shareholders would be converted into shares in a private Tesla, were a deal to go through.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed why he used the phrase “funding secured” in a controversial tweet he sent on Tuesday.

Musk said in the tweet that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 per share and implied that he had the funding in place to do so, pending a shareholder vote.

In a blog post on Tesla’s website posted on Monday, Musk said he used the phrase “funding secured” because he believed there was “no question” Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would provide funding for a deal to convert Tesla into a private company after a July 31 meeting with the fund’s managing director. He made the announcement via Twitter because he wanted all Tesla investors to know about the possibility of Tesla going private at the same time.

“As mentioned earlier, I made the announcement last Tuesday because I felt it was the right and fair thing to do so that all investors had the same information at the same time. I will now continue to talk with investors, and I have engaged advisors to investigate a range of potential structures and options. Among other things, this will allow me to obtain a more precise understanding of how many of Tesla’s existing public shareholders would remain shareholders if we became private,” Musk said in the statement. 

Musk said he is in discussions with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and other investors and plans to fund most of a potential take-private deal with equity rather than debt, since he does not want to increase Tesla’s debt load.

Musk also said he estimates that around two-thirds of the shares owned by current Tesla shareholders would be converted into shares in a private Tesla, were a deal to go through.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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